Grandpa's Story
by HoldingHope
Summary: Ever wonder how HG Wells thought up the idea for "The Time Machine"? Well wonder no longer... just ready


**Hello Readers:  This is such an old story of mine.  I felt like posting another one of my stories up here, even though I am still working on others.  I wrote this when I was 13 years old, it was my first "real" attempt at Science Fiction.  Don't be too hard on me, ok!  I hope it at least puts a smile on your face.**

**Please note that this story is un-betaed and may have spelling/grammatical errors.  Sorry for the inconviencenc.  **

**Now on with the show**

*********

**Grandpa's Story**

A telltale tall tale of a trip through time.

 "Shut up Jamie", I yelled covering my ears.

"You", She screamed back throwing her teddy bear at me.

"Keep your junk on your side of the car." I replied throwing the teddy bear at her.  It hit her on the head, so she kicked me.

"Ow!" I cried and pushed her up against her window and got ready to punch her.

"Grandpa", Jamie whined, "Sam is going to punch me!"

"Sam, Jamie!" my grandfather yelled at us, "Get back in your seats!"

We got back in our own seats and buckled up. Trying not to look at each other.

"Okay, on with my story" Jamie finally said.

"Here we go again," I mumbled under my breath.

"I heard that Samuel!" Jamie stuck her nose in the air.

"I am sick of you and your stupid stories," I told her.

"Well I am sick of you and your stupid stupidness!" she hissed back.

"Kids, I thought I told you to be quiet!" Grandpa scolded us.

"Grandpa", I spoke up. I agreed to go on this trip to 'the family farm' just as long as Jamie doesn't tell her stupid stories."

"My stories aren't stupid" Jamie started to cry. "You're stupid Sam."

"That's enough name calling kids." Grandpa said. "I'll tell you two a story.  Just as long as you stop bickering."

"Okey-dokey" Jamie replied.

"Sure, why not" I sighed.

"Alrighty, here we go."  Grandpa began telling us a story that I will never forget.

"When I was about eight years old, I got to go visit my Grandfather in London.  We called him Grandpa Herbert.  One of the nights there, I heard my father and Grandpa Herbert arguing."

"'I don't want you to do it again.  It's too dangerous,' my dad said, 'You almost died.'"

"'I know, but I must finish.  He needs me.' Grandpa Herbert  replied." 

"I had no clue as to what they were talking about, so I listened on."

"'I must go back. I will go back.' Grandpa Herbert told my father and stormed out of the room."  


"I stayed up late that night to see if my Grandpa was going to do whatever he wasn't supposed to do.  Around 12 o'clock midnight, I heard a noise in the hall.  I knew that it was Grandpa, so I quietly tiptoed down the hall following Grandpa Herbert.  He went outside and started walking down towards the warehouse where he worked.  I followed in anticipation.  What was going to happen? I kept wondering.  As I entered the warehouse I heard a faint humming.

'Grandpa, Grandpa Herbert!' I called, and my voice echoed through the building.

'Michael,' I heard Grandpa Herbert yell, 'Is that you?'

'Yes.' I gulped.  Was my grandpa mad.  I turned the corner and saw his shadow surrounded by a green glow.  A loud whirring noise filled the room.

'Go home Michael!' Grandpa Herbert spoke sternly. 

'Why?' I started to question but I stopped as I saw where the glow was coming from.  A large, tractor-like machine positioned behind Grandpa was starting to spin slowly on the floor.  Grandpa Herbert turned and dived onto the machine and sat down.  He pushed a bright red button.  The machine whirred and hissed, It spun faster and faster, the green glow grew brighter and brighter.

'Wait Grandpa!' I screamed and grabbed the machine.  I spun around and around.

'Michael!' Grandpa Herbert yelled as he grabbed hold of my arms.

'Grandpa' I cried.  The machine whirred and spun and then all of a sudden it stopped.

Thud!

'Oh, what happened?' I coughed and cleared away the dust around me. I was startled to find that we were no longer in the warehouse.

'Where are we?'

'Shh!' Grandpa Herbert hissed at me.  'Put these on!' he said and threw some clothes at me.  It was a tunic, a cloak and a pair of tights. I wanted to ask Grandpa Herbert if we were going to a costume party but he had disappeared behind the machine.  

'Ugh' I said after I was dressed. 'I feel like a ballerina.  Wow Grandpa Herbert, you look neat!' I told my grandpa as he walked out from behind the machine.  He was dressed like a knight.  A real, old fashioned knight in shining armor!

'Thank you Michael, but from now on my name is Sir Herbert.' 'And you are my page, Michael' he said.

'Thanks Gramps for the unique name. I said sarcastically.

'You're welcome' Grandpa Herbert laughed.  We walked out from where the machine had stopped.  Instead of a warehouse we were in a barn.  But that wasn't the only thing that had changed.  I soon found out that we had gone back into the time of King Arthur. In a time machine."

  


"WOW!" Jamie said excitedly. "A time machine."

"Yeah right," I told Jamie. "It's just a story."

"No way." Jamie argued back, "It's real."

"Yeah," I said. "And I bet you were really the one to pull the sword from the stone."

"As a matter of fact I was." Grandpa said. "Now can I finish my story?"

"Yes!" Jamie and I chorused.

"OK" Grandpa continued. 

*****

"It's not like it was in the cartoon you know.  Every thing was dirty and everyone smelled like they needed a bath.  As we walked towards a small village, Grandpa Herbert told me the story of the sword in the stone.  The sword had been stuck in a rock in the center of the town for many years.  No one could move it.  The legend said that one day a person would come who could pull the sword out.  That person was supposed to be the rightful King of England.  Grandpa had met a young man named Arthur, who had pulled the sword out but was too scared to tell anyone.  The boy had put it back. Soon after he became very ill.  Grandpa had brought some medicine back with him to help Arthur.  It was Arthur's clothes I was wearing.  'Sir' Herbert said we needed to hurry.  He wasn't sure if Arthur would live another day.  We went to the house were Arthur lived.  When I met him I was surprised to see how much he looked like me.  I was also surprised to see how sick he looked.  Arthur also noticed how much I looked like him, especially in his clothes.  He had an idea.  He wanted me to go pull the sword from the stone.  I looked at Sir Herbert and he nodded.  So I agreed.  I walked to the town square where the sword in the stone was.  As I walked over to it a small crowd begin to gather.  When I reached the stone a medium size crowd had gathered, and when I placed my hands on the sword a large crowd had gathered.  I pulled on the sword  and it would not come loose.  I pulled again and I could actually feel myself getting stronger. I pulled harder.  The harder I pulled, the stronger I felt.  Suddenly, the sword came loose. 

'Hurrah!' the crowd yelled.  'Long live the King, long live the King'  A man came up to me and asked me my name.

'Arthur', I told him.

'Long live King Arthur!' the crowd cheered.

'I will be right back' I told the people.  I ran back to the house where the real Arthur lived.  I gave him the sword and said he must take his place as the King.  As Arthur took the sword I could see him getting stronger, just as I had when I first pulled on the sword.

'Change out of those clothes, page' said Sir Herbert.  By the time I had put my old clothes back on, Arthur was strong enough to stand up and as I watched he put back on his clothes, and walked out the door with the sword held high.

'I guess he is better' I said.

"That was a very noble thing you did.' Sir Herbert said.  'But now we must go'

  


'Yeah, I think we should.'  We walked back to the time machine.  Sir Herbert changed out of his armor and we got in.  Grandpa Herbert pressed green button and the machine whirred and spun and glowed green.  My grandpa pressed the red button and the next thing I knew, Thud, we are in a warehouse.  But not my Grandpa Herbert's warehouse.  

Robot's and computers were everywhere.  If you looked out the window, you could see space shuttles flying this way and that.

'Grandpa, I think we are in the future' I said.

'So do I Michael, so do I.' Grandpa Herbert agreed.

We walked out of the warehouse and out onto a street.  There was hardly any grass and everything was metal.  Spaceship car things were driving on the road. Everyone talked so fast or slow it was hard to understand what they were saying.  Grandpa Herbert and I looked into one of the odd shops on the street.  There was something that looked like a cross between a play and a movie in 3D.  After watching for a while I realized it was a news broadcast. 

'After the polls have closed in all fifty-three states and the votes are counted, It has been confirmed that the United States will have their first woman president.'

A woman president, I thought how strange.  And then I saw a newspaper headline.

**MEN LAND ON MARS.  WORLD WILL END SOON**

new american president is proud of her brother

'Grandpa Herbert,' I said, 'I think we should leave.  We don't belong here. We should not be in the future.'

'I  agree Michael.  Let's leave.' Grandpa replied.

We went back to the time machine. 

'Here's the problem.' Said Grandpa Herbert as he adjusted a dial.  'Must have bumped it when we left the present.'  Grandpa Herbert and I sat back down and he pressed the buttons.

Wrrrrrrrh, Spiiiinnn, THUD.

We were back in Grandpa Herbert's warehouse in London. Grandpa pulled a big wooden crate out from the back of the warehouse and together we rolled the machine into it.  He nailed the crate shut and we left.  Grandpa Herbert told me it would be better if I didn't tell anyone about what we had done.  I didn't think anyone would believe me anyway.  I didn't even believe it.  But I never forgot the time I got to see the past and the future."

"Neato-Smeeto story Grandpa." Jamie said.

"Yeah, real exciting." I replied half-heartedly.

"What ever happened to your Grandfather's belongings?" my Grandmother asked.

"Well, after he died, most of it was auctioned off.  But some things were shipped over to the States when my father moved here after the war.  In fact some things are still in the barn at the farm."

*****

  


"Wow!" Jamie said amazed. "A real time machine!"

"Jamie, it's just a story". I said, "One of those tall tale things we are learning about in English class."

"You can believe what you want to believe Samuel.  And I will believe what I want to believe." Jamie said.

"Fine." I told her.  Soon we arrived at my grandparents farm.  After dinner, Jamie asked if we could go play in the barn.

"Sure" the grownups said. "But be careful."

Jamie and I ran out there.  I couldn't wait to swing from the loft to the floor on the rope.  But Jamie had a different idea.  She went rummaging around in the back.

"I am looking for the time machine." She said.  "Will you help?"

"It is not real Jamie." I said.

"Please, help me."

"Fine." I said.  We dug around in the junk at the back of the barn and to my surprise we actually found a wooden box under an old tarp.  Quickly, we found a crowbar and pried off the cover.  To Jamie's disappointment, all that was in it was an old piece of farm machinery.  Jamie gave up on finding a  time machine and we started to play hide and seek around and in the box.  It was starting to get dark which made it harder to see but easier to play hide and seek. I was hiding and Jamie was 'It'.  She stepped up on the machine in the box. to see better. She saw me and leapt onto the seat trying to tag me.  She accidentally stepped on a large red button.  The machine started to whir, shake and spin.  And as a green glow filled the barn, I could finally read the words written on the cover of the box.

**KEEP OFF**

**Property of**

**H.G. Wells.**

The End.

  


Wells, Herbert George (H. G. Wells) Eng. aut., historian, & utopian; 

pioneer of science fiction; wrote "The Outline of History" 1920, novels 

"The Time Machine" 1895, "The Invisible Man" 1897, "The War of the Worlds" 

1898 _1866-1946


End file.
